


Wreck

by Jo_G



Category: The Tunnel (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-13
Updated: 2016-11-14
Packaged: 2018-07-23 18:40:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7475541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jo_G/pseuds/Jo_G
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been a while since Artem Baturin was caught and everything is back to normal on both sides of The Channel.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my take on how season 3 might go.  
> I am not a constant writer, but I'll try my best to update regularly.

The mobile alarm clock went off loud and annoying. The sound of a siren turned up at the highest volume level, made her snap out of her troubled sleep with a jolt. Elise reached out to stop the nuisance and checked the time, squinting to avoid the excessive light of the screen. It was 6 a.m.

She wasn’t supposed to take duty at the Calais police station until much later, but her doctor had scheduled an early appointment to discuss her most recent blood tests and assess her recovery. Today would be, she hoped, her last check up after Edgar Branco had injected her with the virus six months earlier. The effects of the infection had barely started when she had been rushed to the hospital, but the worry about any long term damage to her organs, had brought the doctors to be, in her opinion, overcautious. The reality was her health had been back to normal after just a few weeks. Only the left eye would itch and sting every now and then, which she assumed was more a psychological reaction to the memory of the events than an actual condition.

Throwing on a baggy sweater, Elise went to the small kitchen and started the coffee machine. She stood there for a while, watching the dark hot liquid dribble in her mug, the strong aroma waking her up already. She had lost track of how much coffee she had in a day lately: it had become a constant, a full cup always present on her office desk, from early morning through to late night.

A book waited for her on the table where her laptop laid surrounded by files and folders. The worn ink on its spine read “20 Love Poems and a Song of Despair”. She sat down, balancing the mug in one hand while turning the pages to where she had stopped reading before, a photo as the bookmark.  
Too soon, the coffee finished. Elise glanced for a while longer at the picture in her book before closing it and heading to the bathroom.

***  
“Karl, can you look after the twins while Vladka and me get the others ready for school?”

“Of course!” Karl made his way to the living room still holding his porridge bowl. “I love spending time with my boys!”  
With a smile on his face, he crouched down on a bit of floor free of toys, while the two babies moved around construction blocks. “So, what’s up young men?”  
As Karl put a spoonful of food in his mouth one of the kids turned, handing him one of the blocks.  
“Is that for me? What are we building? Oh I know”  
Placing the bowl on the floor, he grabbed a few more pieces and started to construct a small wall.  
“See? If you use…no no no!”  
The baby further away had started crawling to him, sticking his hand right into the porridge bowl.  
“Let’s get you clean before you get this all over yourself”

Laura rushed to Karl side, her laptop bag on her shoulder trying to put on a coat.  
“Karl, a client just called me. They want me to meet them at their house in half an hour, can you take the kids to school?”  
“Sure. Here.” Passing her the baby he had just picked up.  
“What’s happened here?”  
“It’s just a bit of porridge, Laura, let me grab a napkin”  
“I really need to go now”  
Karl came back from the kitchen holding a wet cloth. Giving his wife a quick peck on the lips, he took the twin back in his arms and started to wipe his little hand.  
“I’ll see you tonight then”  
The dog had headed straight to the forgotten bowl, eating anything left in there and causing the twin left on the floor to start laughing.  
“Brian, that was my breakfast, I thought you were on my side! Kids get your backpacks; we’re leaving in five minutes!”  
“Yay!!!” Came the unison scream from upstairs. Karl just shook his head, smiling.

***  
Elise had just pulled up in her parking spot at the police station when the mobile started ringing, ‘KARL R.’ flashing on the screen.

“Yes, Karl?”  
“Bonjour to you Elise, any good news?”  
“Nothing much really”  
“You know what I’m talking about, what did the doctor say?”  
“What has been clear for the last four months, that I fully recovered and can return to my usual habits”  
“Not sure that’s the right suggestion in your case, but great!”  
“What do you mean?”  
“Well your usual habits…Forget it. So, this calls for a celebration, meet you for lunch tomorrow?”  
“I don’t see the point of celebrating something that has been obvious for months. Besides, we both have work tomorrow”  
“Come on Commander! Can’t you just delegate for a couple of hours? Work is slow here at the DCI anyway; I’ll ask BB to cover for me, no one will notice”  
There was silence on the line for a while.  
“Fine”  
“Ok?”  
“Yes, Ok”  
“I’ll pick you up at twelve, you choose the restaurant, bye”

Disconnecting the line, Elise climbed out of her car and went to the entrance.

After the whole Chemist debacle, they had kept in touch. Karl had kept in touch: calling her, showing up for lunch or inviting her for dinner every other week. A couple of times, too busy with work, he had sent Laura over. She had insisted that there was no need for him to take care of her, that she was fine and he had a family to look after. “Now we’re officially best friends it’s part of my duties” He had said, dismissing her complaints. The truth was, she felt guilty for having ignored Karl when he had been going through the loss his son, while he had stuck with her for this. Nonetheless, his chattiness and humour had been a welcome break from her own thoughts.

***  
“Bonjour Commander Wasserman” [Good morning Commander Wasserman ]  
“Bonjour Julie, comment ça va ?” [Good morning Julie, how are you?]   
“Très bien, Merci” [Very good, thank you ]  
Elise entered her office, dropping her backpack in a corner and picking up her mug, to exit again headed to the coffee machine.  
On the way Philippe approached her with a pile of files.  
“Elise, toute la documentation sur les cartes de crédit volées est ici” [Elise, here's all the documents about the stolen credit cards ]  
“Laisse-la sur mon bureau, je vais la lire tout à l’heure” [ Leave them on my desk, I'll read them in a bit ]  
Louise hurried to catch up with her down the corridor.  
“Comment ça va Elise ? Est-ce que tu as parlé avec le médecin ?” [ How are you Elise? Did you talk with the doctor? ]  
“Tout bien Louise, merci” [ Everything is fine Louise, thanks ]  
Louise gave her a small nod, a sympathetic smile on her face.  
“Nouvelles sur l’enquête ?” [ News about the case? ]  
“Rient pour le moment, on attend le rapport médical ” [Nothing at the moment, we're waiting for the doctor's report ]   
“Bon, appelle-moi quand tu vas recevoir le dossier”[ Good, call me when you get the file ]  
“Ok”  
Elise retreated in the silence of her office. The half-closed blinds blocked most of the daylight, allowing her to focus in the shadows of the room. Sitting down at her desk, she closed her eyes for a moment, breathing slowly. Opening the first file, she started browsing through the hundreds of papers Philippe just left, hoping something interesting would come up.


	2. Chapter 2

The raft left the beach in silence. In the faint moonlight, a man paddling on each side of the inflatable boat could be seen; a third one sat at the back, facing the beach and signalling to someone left there the successful start of their trip.

Six other guests occupied the little space left. Pressed together were a woman and a young child, his big brown eyes scanning the darkness surrounding them while she whispered soothing words to his ear. Next to them a girl, no older than fifteen, had her arm locked with an older man and was trebling, in part out of fear in part because of the strong breeze coming from the open water. Two dark skinned guys in their twenties sat in front of them.

A pile of half-filled bin bags stood in the centre of the raft, containing the few things they all had been able to collect from their tents before leaving the refugee camp to meet with the man who had promised to bring them to England.

The trip was short, just a few hundreds of feet off the coast, to reach a bigger motorised boat anchored there; yet the strength of the wind was enough to slow them down and the waves were splashing with violence against the overcrowded dinghy. Approaching the boat wasn’t easy, but with a couple of ropes they were dragged close enough to allow the transfer of passengers.

The man at the back stood up. He was incredibly tall with wide shoulders, his face hidden by the hood of the jumper he wore, and, stepping in between the people still sitting down, he held onto the side of the boat as if to steady the raft.

“These are the last seven” he said with a thick Eastern European accent to the man who was still tying one of the ropes on the boat.

“Seven? I have seven people here already mate! This boat is for twelve. No more than …”

“They all payed, you carry them” one of the men holding a paddle interrupted. His jaw set and his tone demanded no replies. Even in the dim moonlight the Englishman could see a thick scar running down his right cheek and cutting through his chin.

“Listen, you said it would be an easy job, a few trips, five thousand quid…this, this is dangerous, the sea is…this is too many people. No more than five.” The English stammered.

The scarred man looked at the tall man, who gave a nod.  

“You, you, go” pointing to the two guys next to him.

“We have a child” said the man holding the other paddle.

“You three, go” the scarred man gestured to the family.

At that point the man holding the young girl hand stood up “we need to go, please!” he turned to the Englishman, his voice desperate “we can’t go back, my daughter not safe there! Please!”

“Unless someone wants to take your place, you will have to wait” There was silence for a while “Sorry mate, looks like you’ll have to wait for next week”.

They started untying the boats. The girl tried to calm down her father, whispering in a foreign language until the man nodded and seemed to relax.

“Sit” ordered he tall man, after reaching for the paddle left at the bottom of the raft.

And, as they had come, they made their way back to the beach, in silence. 

***

Karl was leaning against the hood of his car, the mobile in his hand, typing a message, quite irritated. Elise made her way through the doors of the police station and walked right next to him, stopping to look with interest between him and the screen. He was clearly too taken by what he was writing to notice her.

“Hello Karl”

“Jesus Elise!” he exclaimed startled “I’ve been waiting here for at least half an hour, you said you needed five minutes to finish. I thought I had to come upstairs and drag you out of that office! And don’t bother replying to my calls, you know I hate texting”

“Sorry, it took longer than expected” She replied with a small grin.

“Where are we going for lunch?” Karl asked making his way to the driver side, reaching for the keys in his pocket.

Elise pointed across the parking lot “The bar around the corner”

“Not what I had…” he started saying, but she was already walking toward the street “…in mind. You’re lucky, I’m hungry” Karl added, jogging to catch up with Elise.

***

“Chips? That’s not a meal” Karl handed the menu back to the waiter with a nod and turned a disappointed stare to Elise.

“It’s what I like to eat” She replied, matter of fact as usual.

The waiter kept on scribbling on his little pad and asked “Est-ce que vous voulez quelque chose à boire ? ” [ Do you want anything to drink? ]

“De l’eau pour moi” She said. [ Water for me ]

“Pour vous monsieur ? ” [For you sir? ]

“Oui eau. Eau is fine. Merci” [Yes water. water is fine. Thanks ]They both looked at the waiter make his way back behind the bar “You need to take care of yourself more, Elise”

“I’ve always eaten chips” Her expression was puzzled - Why did he keep going on about the chips? -

Karl seemed unsure what to say next. He often had these moments, when he looked at her like he wanted to say something, but for some reason he restrained himself.

He finally spoke “Louise told BB that you spend an insane number of hours in your office, that you don’t have lunch anymore, you just drink coffee”

“How I decide to spend my working hours and breaks is nobody’s business” Her voice was still calm, but her expression had darkened.

“Elise, just because you choose to act like a robot, you can’t expect everyone to stop caring!” He snapped, but seeing the frown on Elise’s face, he quickly added “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that…”

The waiter was on his way back with their food “Bon appetit” [ Enjoy your food ] he said putting the dishes on the table and he left.

Karl took a deep breath “How you’ve been acting these last few months it’s not normal and you’re not fine, even if you pretend to be”

“The doctor said…”

“It’s not about the blood tests or what the doctor said, Elise, you’ve been hurting because of Eryka Klein and it only got worse. You need to talk to someone, you can’t just keep bottling it all up. If you don’t want to talk to me, find a specialist, someone.”

She listened to him speak, her breathing growing more laboured and eyes filling with tears. She managed to keep the volume low, she didn’t want all those strangers around to listen, yet her tone was full of anger and sadness. “What do you want me to talk about, Karl? About the fact that I can’t focus on my work? That I would rather spend time in my office because I can’t stand being in my own flat? That I have to drink at night just to be able to fall asleep because I can’t stop the memories and it feels like everything just happened?” It was like word vomit and it left Karl speechless. Elise felt the urge to leave, she couldn’t stand Karl’s pity and she couldn’t stand herself for being so weak “I’m not hungry anymore”

“Elise…” He wanted to help her.

“I have to get back to the office” she stood and picked up her backpack. Stopping next to him, her eyes fixed to the floor, she said “I just need time to get over it, Karl” with that, she left the bar.

***

Elise entered her flat just as the clock struck 5.30. She had left the police station early today: the argument with Karl had managed to make her feel more uncomfortable around the people in the office than she had ever felt.

She removed two files from the backpack and put them on her table, she then headed to the sofa and sat down. Leaning her head back, she closed her eyes and just left her mind wander, because she didn’t have neither the strength nor the will to avoid the memories.

\--

 _In the back of her mind she had expected Eryka to push her away when she leaned in to kiss her the first time. Instead, she just held her face and deepened the kiss._ _“Can I stay tonight?” she whispered, pausing to catch some breath._

_Elise could only reply with a nod, her chest still tight with relief and emotion, a single tear running down the cheek. Eryka had smiled then, a soft, reassuring smile, that wiped away any worry left in Elise’s mind._

_They kissed for a long time, just standing in the middle of the living room. At some point Elise started tugging on Eryka’s coat to remove it, throwing it on the sofa without care, and guiding her to the bed in the corner._

_-_

_After, Elise had rolled on the side turning her back to Eryka._

_“If you want me to leave, I understand” Her voice held no anger or disappointment._

_“Don’t. I…” Eryka leaving was the last thing she wanted, yet the need to put some space between them had come by instinct._

_They laid on their back in silence for a while. Elise was trying hard to find the right words to express what was going on in her head, when Eryka reached out for her hand, giving a gentle squeeze before intertwining their fingers._

_Elise exhaled and keeping her eyes to the ceiling she said “I’m sorry” Eryka turned her head on the pillow “Why?”_

_“I don’t know how to do this”_

_“I’m sure it’s not the first time you…”_

_“It’s not. But those other times I never cared about what would happen next”_

_“Elise, I don’t want you to act in any way you’re not comfortable with. I’m here as long as you let me stay, Ok?”_

_Elise finally looked at her “Ok”_

_Eryka smiled and nodded, moving closer to drop a kiss on her lips._

\--

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

BB was switching on the coffee machine at the small counter when Karl entered the office with a bunch of letters in his hand.

“Morning Boss!”

“Good morning BB!”

“Coffee?”

“Yes please”

“So, how was the date with your French girl yesterday?” the younger detective asked casually, with a cheeky smile on his face, while pouring the drink.   

“BB” Karl’s tone was enough for him to understand to drop the joke.

“Alright, alright” BB laughed “Here you go” handing him the cup.

“Ta”

Karl sat down at his desk and started browsing through the mail “Anything new?”

“They found a body down by the camping site in Folkestone. Two kids were fooling about on the beach last night and stumbled upon it, they got quite the scare. A Man, no documents. It must have been in the water for quite some time, it was in a bad state”

“Did you check the missing people database?”

“No one matching. The body’s with the coroner right now. I waited for you to go and talk to the campers, check if someone noticed something”

“Good idea. Let’s go now” Karl picked up his jacket and the coffee cup heading for the door.

“Sorry boss, no coffee in my car”

“It’s fine. We’ll take mine”

***

The sunlight hitting the apartment building was the last thing Elise needed for her aching head when she opened the ground floor door. She had fallen asleep on the sofa during the night, trying to find some useful information within the pile of nonsense contained in the files she had brought back from the office. To add up to the frustration, she had left the damn mobile in the car, which meant no alarm clock, and now she was running late.

She was rummaging through the backpack looking for the car keys, while walking to the car; as soon as she lifted her eyes, she stopped in her tracks. Eryka Klein was standing next to her car, looking distractedly toward the water. She had her hands in the coat’s pockets, her hair was covering part of her face, a pair of dark sunglasses hid her eyes. Elise thought she had lost her mind for a second. She took a couple of slow steps and when Eryka turned to face her, she stopped again leaving a several feet between them.

“Hi Elise” she was smiling.

Elise kept any emotion out of her voice “You’re back”

“Yes. I… I’m living here in Calais”

“How long...”

“Just a couple of days. I came here as soon as I could”

“I thought I’d never see you again”

“I thought the same, for a while”

 “What changed?”

“I won’t be assigned to missions anymore. I take care of negotiations with European secret services now”

Elise looked at Eryka for a while, not sure of what to say. She needed to see her eyes.

“How can I trust what you’re saying?”

“It’s not been easy … .They made sure I won’t forget who I work for”

That’s when she took the sunglasses off to reveal a badly healing scar on her left eyebrow and a fading bruise under her eye. Only then, Elise noticed another bruise on the side of Eryka’s jaw: she felt anger press in her chest, but made no move.

“If you don’t trust me, ask Detective Roebuck or Commander Pujol, I’m sure they have contacts who can confirm my story”

The mobile started ringing in the car. Eryka took a step forward “Elise…” trying to maintain eye contact with her, keep her there.

The ringtone didn’t stop and Elise circled around her to open the car and grab the phone.

“Philippe?”

“Elise, ou es-tu ? On doit aller à Wissant, ils ont découvert un bateau sur la plage avec deux corps ” [ Elise, where are you? We have to go to Wissant, they found a boat on the beach with two bodies ]

“J’arrive” [ I'm coming ] Elise hung up and turned to Eryka “I have to go now. It’s urgent”

Eryka looked disappointed but nodded. Elise started to say something, instead she just shut her mouth and climbed in the car, driving away.

***

The phone beeped as soon as she got to the police station. A message from an unknown number.

 

‘If you want to talk, call me. Eryka’

 

Philippe was waiting in front of the station and got in the car straight away. Elise greeted him and slipped the phone back in her pocket.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!!


	4. Chapter 4

Kids were playing loudly in a corner of the caravan site, running around, chasing after a ball. Karl’s station wagon braked with a screech as a toddler wandered off the group to stand right in the way while they approached the site.

“It’s nine in the morning, can’t they keep their kids in bed a little longer? They’re on holiday!”

“BB, when you have your own kids you’ll understand that parents have no control over the time they wake up”

“Yeah? Well, not a problem of mine. Must suck for you though”

Karl scoffed and looking down he noticed that the leftover coffee in his cup had spilled all over the place.

“Oh, no”

“That’s why I don’t want drinks on my car”

Throwing an annoyed glance at BB, Karl started to move around pieces of paper and wet letters. Meanwhile, a woman, who had rushed to pick up the toddler in the middle of the street, had walked up to the car and was knocking insistently on the driver’s window “Sorry sir, hello! Do you need something?”

“Yes” The knocking persisted. Karl closed his eyes “YES! Give me one second”

“Come on, you’ll take care of it later” said BB leaving the car. “Good morning.  Detective Borowski C.I.D.”

“Detective Inspector Roebuck, we’d like to ask some questions about the man found last night on the beach?”

“Oh that… I don’t know much about it, I just found out this morning…but the reception office is in that cabin over there, they’ll be able to help you”

“Thank you” BB started toward the office but Karl stopped him.

“Wait. Did you notice anything unusual last night? Any noises?”

The woman seemed to think for a moment “Not really…We were out all day hiking and went to bed quite early, I don’t remember anything weird”

“Well thank you for the information, enjoy your holiday”

 

The office was cramped with stashes of newspapers and magazines. The manager, a young guy, was focused on the TV screen, joystick in his hand, headphones on, the volume turned up so loud that the shotgun noises could be heard clearly in the small room.

“MORNING!” Karl’s greeting went unnoticed. Reaching out for the remote on the desk, he switched off the TV. The guy scrambled to his feet “What the fuck! I told you to stop…” As soon as he realised he was not talking to whoever he thought he was talking to, he removed the headphones “Sorry” his tone was bashful “May I help you?”

“I’m detective Roebuck, C.I.D. We need to ask some questions about the body found last night”

“My dad told me someone would be coming” he left his position behind the desk and headed to the door, stepping outside. “You can see the area roped off during the night there on the beach. If you want to talk with those who found it, they’re staying in that trailer. You will have to wait for my dad to come back this afternoon for anything else, he’s gone home to sleep”

“Ok. Do you work here often?”

“Every day for the past three months…”

“Have you ever noticed anything odd?”

“It depends…this morning I was walking around the crime scene… just to check, you know…in the bushes further down the beach, there are two life jackets…I thought it weird since boats don’t usually come here and those things are quite expensive to just leave them lying around”

“Did you consider reporting it to the police?” BB interjected.

“I’m reporting it now. You’re police right?”

“Yes” Karl couldn’t believe how dumb the guy was, the baffled face he turned to BB had him hold a laugh. Karl reached into his pocket to take out the vibrating mobile. “Elise? What’s going on?”

“Karl, the coast guard found a boat, no one on board but two corpses, the only one with documents is an English man. I thought the British police should be informed”

“Give me a second… BB I need you to call the central and tell them to send the forensics to check the life jackets. You should get some agents to search the whole area in case we missed something, I might have to go to France” At BB’s inquisitive look he replied “I’ll explain later…Sorry Elise, I’ll be there as soon as possible...Are you ok?”

“Yes. I’ll be at the police station” she disconnected the call. Karl shook his head with a sigh.

“Can I leave you here or do you want me to drive you back to the station?”

“They’re on their way, I can get a lift back later”

“Good, see you later” Opening the car door, he inspected the mess he had forgotten about “Right. Let’s clean up first”

 

***

“Je veux un inventaire de toutes les choses dans les sacs. Je vais rechercher ce que je peux sur l’homme anglais et le bateau” [ I want a list of all the things inside the bags. I'll be researching what I can find on the Englishman and the boat ]

Both Philippe and Louise nodded returning to their desks. Elise sat down at the computer she had been working on since coming back from Wissant. Right at that moment Karl entered the office.

“Karl! Long time, no see!”

“Hello Philippe; Louise”

“Bonjour Karl”

“I’ve been summoned by the commander, is she in her office?”

“I’m here” came Elise’s voice from behind one of the screens.

“Oh hello!” Karl dragged a chair over to the desk, sitting next to Elise to get a glimpse of the computer “Tell me everything”

“The coast guard found the boat early this morning, five kilometres off the coast of Wissant. They reported that at first glance, it looked abandoned and that it seemed to have gone through a violent storm. Once they approached it they found two bodies: the first, middle eastern, didn’t have any documents, had his skull cracked. The second one English. The name on the driving licence is Joseph Brook. He was choked, the rope was still around his neck. Forensics are trying to establish if they were in a fight or it was just a coincidence. The boat was built for 12, but none of life jackets were found on board. We also found bags containing what seems personal items, but we’re working on that”

“Interesting. A body was found on the beach near Folkestone last night, no documents as well. This morning a guy found two life jackets. I bet the two cases are connected. What do you need me to do?”

“I’m looking for information about Brook and the boat. If you take care of confirming the identity of the man, I’ll focus on tracking down the owner of the boat”

“Sure. Can I use a computer here? I need to call BB to check the situation there and I’ll ask the password for our server, in case I need it”

“That one is free” Elise pointed to a desk nearby.

“Great. This way I can stay for lunch…”

Elise continued tapping and scrolling, eyes fixed on the screen, ignoring him.

“Are you giving me the ‘I talk only about work’ silent treatment?” He said in a hushed tone “Listen, I’m sorry if I upset you yesterday, but I really think…”

“Ok. I need to talk to you in my office” she left, not waiting for his reaction.

 

Karl closed the office door, bracing for whatever was about to come.

“I’m not upset with you, but I would appreciate if you stopped bringing it up in rooms full of people”

“So we’re good?” Elise nodded. Still he wasn’t convinced “You can talk to me anytime you want, ok?”

“Yes”

He watched her wrestle with some thought, but decided not to push it “Let’s go back to work then”

Karl had hardly the time to turn around to exit, when Elise spoke up.

“Eryka Klein is back”

“Sorry, what?”

“Eryka Klein…she was waiting for me earlier outside my flat”

“Are you ok? What did she tell you?”

“That she works on negotiations with the European secret services. She said you know who can confirm it”

“I could make a few calls. What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know…make the calls, will you?” Elise walked over and opened the door, sign that the discussion was over.

“Sure”

On the way back to the desks, Karl observed her. She looked completely unfazed, like they had been talking about a random meaningless subject. He wondered how she managed such a thing, how intense the turmoil in her head must be. Sitting down he added “Elise, please be careful”.

She didn’t reply.

 

***

Karl had left a few hours earlier. Elise had relented on the lunch break and he had popped out to buy food for everyone, Philippe and Louise included. She had listened to them chat, happy to intervene the least possible, her thoughts somewhere else completely.

Now, she was waiting for the last few files to be saved on her USB stick before leaving for home. Taking her mobile she opened the text received in the morning.

 

‘If you want to talk, call me. Eryka’

 

She typed ‘We should meet’

 

The answer didn’t take long

‘Are you done with work? Could you meet me in the park by the prefecture?’

 

‘Yes, I can be there in 15 minutes’

 

‘I’ll be on the north side, close to the Bassin’

 

‘Ok’

 

Elise logged off the computer and grabbed her things, leaving the office.

 

***

Elise entered the empty parking lot facing the waterside garden just as the sun started setting. It had been an unusually warm and sunny summer, one more thing that added up to her discomfort, but since September had started, mornings and evenings were getting chillier despite the sun and she felt more in her element. The small garden bathed in orange light and the few benches decorating the space were desolated except for the figure of Eryka, sitting on the one closest to the canal.

Hands deep in her leather jacket pockets, Elise made her way to Eryka, every bit unsure about what she expected from this meeting as the first time they had met for drinks. For a moment during her drive there, she had wondered if there would ever be a chance to get back the contentment she had briefly felt all those months ago, prior everything falling apart. She had discarded the thought before it could stick.

“Hi”

“Elise” Eryka moved to the far side of the bench, leaving enough room for her to sit and have plenty of space between them. “Thank you for meeting me here…I think I’ll still need a couple of days before I’ll be able to be in a crowded place without people wondering what happened to me”

“You’re healing fine” Elise didn’t take the offered spot, choosing to stand.

“I take your colleagues confirmed my story?”

“I spoke with Karl, he said he’ll look into it” She saw then the hope in Eryka’s eyes, that maybe her trust wasn’t lost, but Elise shifted her gaze to the ground, not willing to confirm or concede yet.

“I guess you want an explanation…Elise, sit, please”

Elise ignored her “What happened?”

“They told me to go back to Germany, to wait there for orders. I thought that I’d see you when I gave Baturin to the English…I wanted to know you were safe…instead only your colleagues were there. I spent a long time in Munich, checking every day for anything that would confirm you were fine, but I had to be careful, my superiors didn’t know about you, about us.

When control called they said that although my name was clean, the European secret services knew about me. The plan was to give me a new identity and send me somewhere back to America. They wanted me on a plane as soon as possible. I realised I didn’t want to leave, that I needed to see you. So I tried to disappear for a while, to gain time”

“Then why didn’t you just come back here? We could have…”

Eryka stood up, frustrated with Elise’s stubbornness “Elise, the last time I left your flat you said nothing, you didn’t even look at me, for all I knew you hated me…I had to think… be sure I was ready to throw away everything…Those people, they saved me, took care of me, of my education…they respected me. And I lied and betrayed them, for you”  

Elise was taken aback by her words. From the beginning she had been worried about her integrity as a detective and after she had been too wrapped up in her own pain to really consider what Eryka might have been going through. Always looking at the world with one eye, as Karl loved to remind her.

“When they tracked me down, I told them I was fed up of working with criminals and psychopaths that acted no respect for orders. I wanted out.” Her tone turned sour “That wasn’t an option, as the men sent after me got me to understand with their fists…always showing initiative…” She took a pause “My superiors decided to give me a second chance, my record had been impeccable up to that point, and because of my expertise in international law they offered me this new role. I chose to come back here…I shouldn’t really be telling you any of this”

The sun was gone and the only source of light were the streetlamps on the sidewalk at the edge of the garden. The darkness was enough for Elise to struggle to see Eryka’s face, so she took two steps closer. “I’m sorry. I didn’t consider…”

“It’s ok, I imagine you had pretty rough times too” The bitterness in her voice was gone, replaced by a caring smile.

Elise instinctively ran her hand on her left brow. “I don’t hate you” she said, her voice almost too low even for her own ears.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, she started again “I don’t…I didn’t hate you when you left, I just couldn’t bear…I don’t hate you”

Eryka nodded, but didn’t speak only looked at her giving her time to decide what to do next.

Elise took a deep breath, trying to regain her composure “I should go now”. With that she left, headed to the car.

“Elise!” She was about to open the car door, when turning around she found Eryka inches from her. She didn’t add anything, just reached a hand out and gently lifted her chin enough to lean in and kiss her. Elise closed her eyes and relaxed against her. It was the softest touch of the lips and lasted less than a breath.

“I missed you” Eryka whispered.

Neither moved for a while, enjoying the closeness, the presence of the other after so much time apart.

Eryka took a step back, breaking the contact, and said “I have to leave for London tomorrow, I’ll be away for a few days, can I call you?”

“Yes…” Elise seemed still lost in the haze of what had just happened “Yes”

Eryka smiled “Have a good evening Elise”

“Bye” Elise climbed in her car and drove away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thank you for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a very short chapter and it's a flashback, probably the last one coming from season two. I decided to post it on its own, because it ties both with things I wrote before and with future chapters.
> 
> I hope you enjoy it!

_They were in bed, clothes and covers thrown on the floor. They had been there for… Eryka had lost track of time… it might have been hours. Every now and then, she would glance out the window, knowing that the first light of dawn would be the signal that their time was up, for good. It was irresponsible and dangerous, and it was selfish, but she couldn’t accept that the last memory Elise had of her would be some stupid lie about pretending and using her. If memories had to hurt, at least they should hurt for the right reasons._

_She was pressed up against Elise’s side, lazily kissing her neck, while waiting for her to come down from whatever high she had reached this time. Elise had her eyes closed, still catching her breath, and was holding onto the arm Eryka had wrapped around her waist. She had not let go once this time, afraid that if she lost contact, Elise might pull her wall of righteousness back up and cut her out._

_“Elise”_

_“Mmm?”_

_Eryka reached up to drop a kiss on her cheek “Elise, I…”. Elise opened her eyes and kissed her, distracting her completely._

_“…I will have to leave soon”_

_Elise’s expression went blank and she turned her gaze to the ceiling._

_“Maybe I could try and find a way to…”_

_“Stop lying” The resentment was back in her voice._

_Eryka let out a sigh and watched her serious profile in the dimly lit room, thinking of something to break the heavy silence._

_“A long time I have loved the sunned mother-of-pearl of your body._  
I go so far as to think you own the universe.  
I will bring you happy flowers from the mountains, bluebells, dark hazels, and rustic baskets of kisses.  
I want to do with you what spring does with the cherry trees.”

_When Elise looked at her again there were tears in her eyes “What does that mean?”_

_“It’s a poem…verses of a poem. It’s in the book I gave you. I learned it years ago and since we… it’s been stuck into my head. It makes me think of you”_

_Then, Elise kissed her and it was desperate. Eryka remembered in that moment why they were taught to never create bonds, to get attached, because they weren’t allowed a life and it would just break them._

_“I must go, now”_

_She got up, started dressing and returned the duvet to Elise, who was putting on her own t-shirt. Sitting on the bed next to her, she said “Goodbye, be safe”._

_Elise kept her head bowed, eyes glued to the floor, no sign of acknowledgement. Eryka almost wished she would slap her again, only to get any reaction at all. She waited a moment longer, looking at her, but nothing came and she made her way to the door. Before opening, she added “Read the poem, Elise” and she left._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally I manage to post a new chapter! It's been a while!
> 
> While writing this I realised I had a big problem: the number of languages I know is very limited compared to the range of nationalities I want to include in this story. So I thought of this trick: every time a line of dialogue in English is underlined it means that the characters are speaking their native language, which I can't speak. I hope this is not going to spoil your reading experience.
> 
> From now on I'll be back to more regular updates. Enjoy!

Karl was balancing two cups of coffee on a folder, the other hand full with his jacket and bag, a packet of croissants hanging from his mouth; he knocked on Elise’s office door but no reply came. He could see her silhouette moving behind the closed blinds, so he decided to open himself as careful as he could.

The opposite wall in front of him was completely covered with A4 reproductions of photographs and Elise was standing in front of it, focused on one of the images.

After dropping his stuff on a chair, Karl approached her with one of the cups “The items in the bags?” She nodded “Tell me you’re not memorising them?”

“I needed the bigger picture”

He let out a laugh and Elise turned to him “It’s funny to you?”

“Well, you got yourself a huge picture here”

She moved on to another image and wrote something down on the little pad she was holding “This way it’ll be faster, less work to see connections later…I had a copy printed out for you, it’s there on the desk”

“I have something for you as well…Brook’s file. He was convicted three years ago for drug related crimes. I managed to talk to the owner of the boat yesterday. He’s a friend of Brook’s family and got him a job in his boat rental company after he left prison. Brook used to borrow one of the oldest boats during week-ends. I told him to come here at the station today so you can talk to him”

“Ok”

Karl put on his glasses and got closer to get a better look at the photographs. There were all kinds of personal belongings: clothes, money, small objects that could have a sentimental meaning, pictures, some had even brought cans of food. 

“I called our friend back at MI6…”

“And?” Elise didn’t take her eyes off the image she was currently studying, but he could tell he had her attention.

“It’s classified…” the frown on her face made him smile “but I told him we deserved some answers with all the work we did… and because they bugged my house, so he accepted to meet me. Apparently, Baturin didn’t just plan to kill us and spread the virus all over Britain, he also threatened to give The Chemist over to ISIS. The Russians didn’t want that…they realised that those they thought were their loyal collaborators might change their mind and move on to more appealing offers…ISIS is the common enemy now and they need to share intelligence with the rest of Europe…They started to place agents over here to keep an eye on the whole situation and speed up communication”

“And Eryka Klein is one of those agents?”

“He didn’t confirm that, but when I brought her name up, he said I seemed to know a lot already”

Elise nodded “Thank you”

Karl glanced back to the wall and suddenly focused on one of the images: the photo of a smiling young couple holding a baby. “This man…” He went to his bag and took out piece of paper, it was the picture of the dead man on the beach taken by the coroner.

Elise stared at it for a moment “It’s the same person”

“Here’s your first connection”

***

It had started raining. Heavy rain and wind shaking the tent and tearing once again the thin material, barely able to hold water when at its best. Rehan sat up. The constant stream of drops had gotten through the sleeping bag to her clothes and she was now laying in a pool. Moving around, she reached for the roll of tape to try and patch up the hole, at least to get until morning.

“Leave it, I’ll do it” Her father had woken up “Here, get changed and take my sleeping bag. Tomorrow I’ll ask the volunteers if they have a spare one, or we’ll wait for this one to dry up” he started moving things around in the small space. “I told your mother both of you should have waited, but she wouldn’t listen…and now look what you have to deal with…no one should be living like this, let alone a kid”

“I’m not a kid” Rehan said, but she knew her father was talking more to himself than to her.

They had ended up there after weeks of travelling from Pakistan. “The Jungle” everybody called it. She knew they meant a human jungle, but one would expect trees, plants and weeds, right? Rehan thought “The Puddle” would be a more accurate name for a place where you had mud up to your knees all the time, even if it didn’t rain for days.

It hadn’t taken long for them to understand what was going on in there. Most people were just migrants like them: people trying to get to England to join friends or family or hoping to find a better life. But a few pretended to be migrants, because, despite all the misery going on, there was still money to be made. Some sold things, like food or clothes, others went around promising ways to get them past border control for “reasonable” prices. Then there were those who promised people in the camp better living conditions, sometimes a house or a job, in exchange of dodgy favours.

Two weeks after their arrival a group of three men approached their tent, they weren’t from their country, but got her father to understand that they could have helped them if he was willing to give her to them. Her father had pretended not to get what they were saying and waved them away quite easily. They had kept coming back though, their attitude more menacing each time. Last week they had told them that if he wasn’t going to give her up, they would have taken her anyway. That’s when her father had grabbed all the euros saved while travelling and gone straight to Arseniy, the biggest man she had ever seen. Everybody knew he had cars and boats he used to move people across to England and her father had managed to get a spot for them on the next boat leaving. In the end they had been left out: he was furious and finding out that someone had taken his things by mistake, didn’t help.

Now they were still there trying to fix the tent and hoping that the day of the next trip would come.

***

The phone vibrated on the table, Elise lifted it up to see the notification for a text message.

ERYKA K.: Let me know when you get home from work and I’ll call you.

Karl spread a map wide to cover everything in front of Elise “In the last twelve hours three more bodies were found along the coast” he pointed to small red circles “their condition was way worse compared to the first one, which suggests they all died at the same time. BB is with the coroner now; we’ll get more information in the morning”

“If it was an accident caused by the storm four days ago, there isn’t much we can investigate… the only thing we can do is help the coast guard avoid that something like this happens again, but we don’t have any witnesses”

“We sent out a notice in hope to find any of the survivors. I think we can call it a day and go home” He started closing the map “Laura is cooking a nice dinner tonight to celebrate her new project, do you want come over? You can stay for the night if you want, so you won’t have to drive all the way back here tomorrow”

Elise glanced at her mobile “I need to go back tonight, sorry”

Karl looked at the phone then back to her with a smile “Got plans for the evening?”

“I’m waiting for a call”

They both headed out of the police station in silence. Once they reached the parking lot Karl said “Have a good evening then”

“Yes…Say congratulations to Laura for her new project”

“I will, bye”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!!


	7. Chapter 7

The trip back had taken longer than usual, the time coinciding with all the commuters returning to France after work. Elise considered calling Eryka while on the train, but decided to wait until she was back to the flat. Somehow she felt the bright white lights of the carriage were too distracting, that she needed to be alone in the dim atmosphere of her studio.

Opening the door, she texted ‘I’m home now’

She took off her jacket and went to the glass table at the centre of the room to remove papers and folders from her backpack and switch the laptop on. Every now and then she would glance at the phone screen there on the corner of the table, unable to really focus on anything on the computer in front of her. Several minutes passed and she decided to get some water and move to the sofa, perhaps read. Right at that moment, the mobile started ringing.

“Hello?”

“Hi, sorry it took me a while. I came back late to the hotel and was taking a shower”

“It’s ok…”

There was silence on the line for a while. Elise wasn’t sure why Eryka would want to call her. Before it turned too awkward, Eryka spoke up “So…How are you? How was your day?”

“Today I was in England too, actually”

“Were you? Still working with the English police?”

“Yes, a new case…Karl told me you’re involved in a network against terrorism”

“Do you think it’s ironic?”

“I think maybe I won’t have to arrest you”

“Good…” Elise could hear Eryka smile “In the last two days I had to meet many people, from the Russian government, from the English secret services…They have a desk ready for me over here”

“Are you going to stay in London then?”

“I told them it would be more convenient to be on the continent, closer to everything…I’d have to travel, but I could spend most of the time in Calais if I decided to…If it’s fine?”

Elise knew what the question implied. - I wish you were in Calais now - she wanted to reply, instead she just said “Yes”

“Have you been reading new books?” She changed the subject, giving Eryka no time to comment on her answer: she didn’t want to discuss or think about feelings. There, on the sofa, her head resting back, Elise had been lulled in a sort of calm she hadn’t felt in a very long time.

“Of course! It’s all I’ve been doing lately…it kept my mind off things…”

“Tell me about your favourite one”

“What if you want to read it?”

“I’ll read it anyway…Just talk to me for a while?”

Eryka let out a soft chuckle “Ok…”

So Elise listened to Eryka tell her of friends and travels, philosophy and art. She enjoyed hearing the warm enthusiasm in her voice when talking about things she cared about, Elise found it soothing. She didn’t tell her she had already read the book years ago.

 ***

“Mmm smells good in here!” Karl picked up the oldest of his boys who was running towards him from the living room “What’s mommy cooking?”

“Chicken!”

“Really!? Doesn’t smell like chicken though…”

 “It’s fish!” Laura called out while at the kitchen isle, cutting some vegetables.

The kid started laughing and wiggling as Karl tickled him “That’s more like it…” he leaned down to kiss Laura on the cheek “Hello, I’m starving”

She lifted her head and looking around confused she asked “Elise?”

“She went back home, but she sends her congratulations” Karl was still bouncing his son in his arms when he got a pained expression “Ow! You’re getting heavy! Here, go and play…” he carefully put him back on the floor and moved closer to the counter, picking a baby carrot from a bowl and throwing it in his mouth “I think she’ll be coming over less from now on”

“Oh?”

“I’ll tell you more when I know for sure” He had kept the whole story vague with Laura: first they couldn't talk about the case and second because it was Elise’s decision with whom she wanted to share her story anyway. “Did you officially sign the contract?”

“Yes, there’s a chance they might hire me for more projects soon”

He could see she was glowing with excitement, she hadn’t been this happy in a long time “You’ll end up having to drop other offers to keep up with them”

“I don’t think so, I’ll be able to manage everything”

 “Great…”  Karl knew it was stupid to complain about Laura possibly neglecting the family because of work in the future, so he bit his tongue . Yet he wasn’t able to fully share her joy.

“Food is almost ready. Could you get the kids while I set the table?”

“Sure…Everybody! Let’s go and wash our hands, last one back at the table doesn’t get dinner!”

The whole crowd started sprinting to the upper floor, Karl at the back, closing the line.

“Don’t make them run up the stairs!”

“Sorry!” He lowered his voice and said with a disappointed tone “Kids, no race, mum said no food for the runners”

Laura rolled her eyes and moved a pile of plates to the table, smiling.

***

Every evening they would make a small fire in a metal bucket. Rehan would go around, hoping to find some dry sticks and paper to keep the flames going as long as possible. She had been sitting by the fire alone while her father tidied up the two square meters of their tent. They had just moved in a new part of the refugee camp, right after her father had been informed that no trips to England would have been possible that week. It wasn’t far of hidden enough, since the three men they had been trying to avoid, were walking to their tent.

“Hello, how are you girl?”

Rehan stood up and headed to the tent entrance calling for her dad, who came out holding the hammer he had been using to fix the ropes to the ground.

“You thought changing spot would make things better?”

“Leave us alone or I will tell the police… Rehan go in the tent”

“The police?” The shorter of the three said laughing and with a wave he pointed to her.

Rehan found herself in the tight grip of one of the other two and no matter how much she kicked and complained, he wouldn't let go.

Her father tried to fight, to help her, but he didn’t see the punch that got him to the ground coming. The last thing Rehan did see before they forced her head in a smelly fabric bag, was the short man rip the hammer out of her father’s hand.    

“Don’t worry your girl is going to England now, just like you wanted” she heard him say. She heard the dull noise of the hammer hitting something. She heard the strangled noise of her father voice fade in the distance, while she got carried away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!!


	8. Chapter 8

Two days had passed and nothing new had come up. Elise was going through all the files once again: coroner reports, few useless depositions and hypotheses on what had happened. The only thing they knew for sure, the man found dead on the boat with his head cracked had been hit with a heavy blunt object, so not an accident, but officially a murder case. The problem was, they had no idea if whoever did it was still alive and how to find them.

When her mobile started ringing, Elise expected it to be Karl with some minor update; she was surprised to see Eryka’s name on the screen.  

“Hello?”

“Hi, how are you?”

“Good”

“I’m on my way back from London. Would you like to meet for lunch?”

“I…” Elise looked around at the others in the main office and then back at the stack of papers on her desk “I’m working…”

The last time they spoke had been a couple of nights before. The longest phone call in Elise’s life. At some point, the conversation had drifted from books to childhood memories, her childhood memories. She had noticed how, after the first time they had talked about their twins, Eryka had never shared things from her time as a kid again, except when forced to do so. She would just patiently listen to her stories, asking questions and making comments, and Elise wondered if Eryka had any happy memories or if remembering would only bring her despair.

“Oh, ok” Eryka sounded disappointed.

“I guess I could find some time” She decided to take a leaf form Karl’s book and allow herself a little break.  They weren’t going to solve the case anytime soon anyway “Let’s meet at the place we went for coffee; do you remember it?”

“The bar near the police station, yes”

“Text me when you get there”

“I will, bye”

***

Karl made his way up the stairs of the Calais police station two steps at a time. Waving in the direction of the reception desk, he exclaimed “Bonjour Julie! Sorry, no time to stop!”

He walked through the office at the third floor and went straight to Elise’s door, opening it without a knock. No one was there.

“Philippe, Elise?”

“She’s not in her office?”

“No”

Philippe glanced over to Louise, who shook her head, clueless. Karl took out his phone and dialled her number.

“Yes, Karl” 

“Where are you? I’m in your office but you’re not here and no one has seen you leave…”

“I’m at the bar around -”

“around the corner, ok… What are you doing there?” he asked, puzzled.

“I’m having lunch w-”

“I’ve got news on the case. I’ll meet you there”

He disconnected the call and left, eager to share the information he had.

***

Karl parked right in front of the bar, next to the only other car in an otherwise empty parking lot. As soon as he entered, he spotted Elise sitting in one of the booths in the corner, drinking from a can of coke, an empty plate in front of her.

“Elise! We have a lead” he handed her a case file with a few pages in it “One of the survivors was found. That’s the report form the agent at the P.P.U. who talked with the woman. We need to go to the refugee camp and see if we can find someone to talk to… why did you come for lunch here?”

“I was having lunch with Eryka Klein” she pointed to Eryka, who was walking back form the restroom.

Karl turned around and greeted her with a smile, before addressing Elise again “I didn’t mean to interrupt…you should have told me”

“You didn’t really let me finish…”

“Hello Detective Roebuck”

“Hi Eryka. Please, call me Karl”

“…besides I should be working, so this has priority” Elise started going through the case file, reading all the details.

Karl didn’t know how he felt about Eryka yet. Had it not been for her, he wouldn’t be standing in that damn bar - God knew why Elise always wanted to go there – but she had been involved in a crime that had gotten tens of people killed and he wondered how many more she had committed they didn’t know about. If she followed the orders of a government agency, was she to be held accountable though?

He believed what was going on between her and Elise was sincere. He had actually been impressed by how she had never tried to hinder the investigation or use Elise to get information and now, she appeared to be trying to straighten up her life for her; if Elise trusted her, then he was willing to go along with it.

“Care to join us for a coffee, Karl? Or are you two in a hurry?” Eryka asked slipping back in her seat.

“We have time for a coffee” Karl sat down next to Elise and got the attention of the waiter at the counter “Trois cafés et l’addition, s’il vous plait?” [Three coffees and the bill, please?]

“You speak French?” She seemed pleasantly surprised.

“Oh, I don’t. I’m just good at pretending”

Several seconds went by, they both watched Elise read. The waiter approached the table leaving a tray with their espresso cups.

“Merci [Thanks]! So, got any plans for the week-end? The wife and I are taking the kids to see the grandparents”

Elise replied without taking her eyes off the paper in her hand “Work” - “We haven’t talked about it yet” Eryka answered at the same time.

Elise raised her head, looking at her “We?”

“You don’t want to…?”

“Yes, I just didn’t…never mind”

Karl witnessed the exchange amused, ‘Oh, Elise!’ he thought.

Eryka continued “There’s a concert at the Grand théâtre tomorrow night, I was wondering if Elise might like it?”

“I hear she likes Spice Girls” Karl smiled and drank up his coffee. Elise turned to him with a frown.

“You like Spice Girls?”

“Ignore him. I don’t care for music, but I don’t mind going if you’d enjoy it”

Eryka smiled while Karl rolled his eyes and checked the time.

“Sorry ladies, but we really need to go. I have to be back in Folkstone as soon as possible for another case”

***

Leaving the bar, Karl made his way to his car. Elise stopped and looked at the two cars next to each other “Why is your car here?”

He opened the door and rested on it “I parked it close to leave quickly, come on!”

“I need to go back to the office and get my things”

 Karl started taking off his jacket to put it on the back seat “I’ll wait then”. He watched Elise and Eryka take the few steps to the driver’s side of the car parked next to his.

“Talk to you later Elise?”

“Ok…” they both stood there looking at each other for a bit, Elise seemed unsure of what to do, until Eryka leaned in to drop a kiss on her cheek. Elise in turn gave her a nod and left hurrying towards the police station.

“Eryka?” Karl called out to her over the roof of the cars.

“Yes?”

“I guess I must thank you for saving my life. I know you weren’t thinking of me when you did it, but I appreciate it nonetheless”

“It was the right thing to do” She replied with a matter of factness worth of the best Elise.

Karl turned serious “One more thing… Please, be sure you know what you’re doing with Elise. She may not talk about it, but she suffered a lot the past six months. I’m not sure she’ll be able to get herself back up again if she had to go through all that once more”

Eryka listened to him carefully and nodded her understanding “Goodbye, Karl”

“Bye”

She disappeared into her car and drove away. Left alone, Karl thought he might as well go and pick Elise up in front of the police station.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everytime the hits or kudos counters go up or I get a comment notification, it's like a kiss to the forehead to the little writer who lives inside my head. Thanks for reading and sticking by despite my random updating!!


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